Aloo jhinge posto is a popular traditional Bengali dish. Though mainly it is the most favorite food of people from Bardhman & Birbhum district, West Bengal. But many people across the West Bengal, as well as Bangladesh, love this awesome vegetarian food. Biulir daal & aloo jhinge posto along with plain rice is the most favorite food combination of many poppy seeds lovers in this region.
Do you not have any idea about this food? Ohh! Actually, it is a delicious food prepared with small pieces of potatoes (aloo) and ridge gourd (jhinge) which are coating poppy seeds based creamy paste. Mainly Bengali people prefer enjoy this food with plain rice along with biulir dal (urad dal in Hindi).
In West Bengal, poppy seed is very popular as a food ingredient to add flavor & texture to various delicious dishes. It is not only popular in Bengal but also you can see poppy seed is widely used in European cuisine. They prefer to spread poppy seeds over bread. Jews people also use poppy seeds in their traditional food dishes.
Poppy seed is not only popular for its creamy texture & flavor but also it is popular for its nutritional values. It has a significant amount of thiamin, folate, various essential minerals (calcium, iron, magnesium, manganese, phosphorous, zinc etc).
The Czech Republic is the biggest producer of poppy seeds. Turkey, Spain, Hungary, France are other major producers across the world in 2016.
Jhinga is another popular vegetable in West Bengal. Jhinga? Hindi speaking may think I misspelt this because jhinga is prawn in Hindi. But in Bengali language, it is also called as jhinga or jhinge. This vegetable is very popular in India and known in different names in different regions. It is also very famous in some other countries across the world like Vietnam, Japan, China, Taiwan, Philippines etc.
There are many different versions of aloo posto available in West Bengal. Many people prefer sojne data aloo posto (recipe) whereas many people prefer only jhinge posto without adding any potatoes instead of aloo jhinge posto. All these are delicious traditional dishes with a very flavorful & creamy texture. Even kacha posto-bata is a very mouthwatering & traditional dish in West Bengal. I love food too.
Aloo jhinge posto recipe
- 2 medium size ridge gourd/jhinge, cut into small pieces
- 3 medium size potatoes, cur into small cubes
- ½ cup poppy seeds, paste
- 2 teaspoons ginger paste
- 1.5 teaspoons nigella seeds/ kalonji/kalo jeera
- 2 green chillies
- 1.5 teaspoons turmeric powder
- 1 teaspoon sugar, optional
- Salt as needed
- Oil as needed
- ½ cup water
- Heat oil in cooking pan and add ginger paste, kalonji/nigella seeds and green chillies and saute till raw aroma goes away
- Now add potato cubes and cook till next 3-4 minutes then add all small pieces of ridge gourd/jhinge and stir for next 2-3 minutes
- Then add turmeric powder & then poppy seeds (posto) paste and stir to combine all and allow poppy flavor to add all vegetables
- Now add salt & sugar and cook another 30 seconds and pour water and stir
- Allow it to cook till gravy becomes thick and we get creamy texture
- Now switch off fire and serve it
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